The present invention relates to a connector provided with means for preventing terminal fittings from being inserted in an inverted manner.
One conventional means for ensuring that terminal fittings are inserted correctly into cavities formed in a connector housing comprises stabilizers protruding from specified locations of outer faces of the terminal fittings, and guiding grooves formed in corresponding wall faces of the cavities, the stabilizers being capable of sliding within these guiding grooves. When the terminal fittings are inserted correctly, the stabilizers slide within the guiding grooves as insertion progresses. When the terminal fittings are inserted in an inverted manner, the stabilizers strike against hole edges of openings of the cavities, thereby preventing insertion from continuing. An example of this type of terminal fitting provided with stabilizers is described in JP-8-45591.
In the conventional example which is provided with stabilizers and guiding grooves, the guiding grooves are cut away in the walls separating the cavities. Consequently, these walls must be thicker, i.e., the pitch of the cavities must be increased. As a result, the connector must be made larger in size.
Conventionally, in order to miniaturize a multi-pole waterproofed connector, separate rubber stoppers are replaced by a rubber stopper comprising a single sheet having a plurality of through holes therein. This sheet covers posterior faces of all the cavities, thereby waterproofing all the cavities in a collective manner. However, when stabilizers protrude from the terminal fittings, as in the case described above, the terminal fittings may damage inner circumference faces of the through holes of the collective rubber stopper into which they have been inserted, thereby decreasing the waterproofing reliability of the rubber stopper.
The present invention has taken the above problems into consideration, and aims to present a connector having a means for preventing terminal fittings from being inserted in an inverted manner, and in which nothing protrudes from outer faces of these terminal fittings.
According to the invention, there is provided an electrical connector comprising a housing, a cavity within said housing, and a terminal fitting insertable in said cavity, said terminal fitting being engageable by retention means at a predetermined insertion depth characterized in that the insertion end of said terminal fitting has a cut-away portion at one side, and said housing include a protrusion extending into said cavity at a corresponding side and for fitting within said cut-away portion at said predetermined insertion depth, whereby a predetermined orientation of said terminal fitting is assured.
Such an arrangement ensures that the terminal fitting can reach the desired insertion depth only if inserted in the correct orientation. No protrusions are required, the corresponding disadvantages are thus avoided, and the connector housing can be miniaturized.
Preferably the terminal fitting is tubular, and the cut-away portion comprises part of the tubular wall. In a preferred embodiment the terminal fitting is rectangular in cross-section at the insertion end.
An engagement member of the retention means may be constituted by an aperture or step in the tubular wall, and this engagement member is preferably provided on the same side of the terminal fitting as the cut-away portion.
In a preferred embodiment, cut-away portions are provided on either side of a resilient tongue of a female terminal fitting, the tongue comprising a contact member of the female fitting for engagement with a corresponding male terminal fitting.